
In the Image of God
Introduction
Man has always asked questions about himself: What is life? What is living?
Why is there evil? Where did I come from? Where am I going? Yet never before
has the question, What is man? been of such overwhelming concern to so many
people all over the world.
The reasons are found in what has been happening to us. Evolutionary theory
has eroded the view of man as a creature of God, but it has failed to give man
the meaning of his life and destiny. The revolutionary changes of our time have
affected every aspect of our lives: our work, our personhood, our relation with
other people, our life-style, our interests, and our morality. The thousand-and-one
new ideologies and philosophies on man, including the "new morality" and hun-
dreds of new cults and sects, have caused great intellectual confusion, moral
restlessness, and spiritual bewilderment.
But though there exists a remarkable consensus among thinking people every-
where that man is seriously ill and needs healing, people differ concerning the
real causes of man's illness and brokenness. And how can we even start thinking
about healing man before we know for sure what the disease is and what causes
it? But our understanding of the disease and its causes, and our insights into the
best way to heal and to help man, hinge on the question,
What is man?
In our scientific age many have turned to science for an answer to the ques-
tions about man. Science has given us many insights and great power; but to the
question, What is man? it has no answer. "Man is," wrote Alexis Carrel, scientist
and Nobel Prize winner for physiology, "a great unknown, and a stranger."
Many in our day, therefore, are turning to philosophy, mysticism, occultism, or
spiritualism to find an answer to the pressing question, What is man? But, though
philosophy has greatly enhanced our understanding of man, its insights and find-
ings are so diverse and so contradictory that it is impossible to find in existen-
tialism, Marxism, vitalism, humanism, or any of the many other "isms" a view of
man that is central to them all and that could guide us in the struggles, ques-
tions, and perplexities of life. Philosophers and mystics are human too. They can
look at man only from within their own limited human experience. But there is
no real knowledge about man within man himself.
To find out, therefore, who and what we are, we must go beyond the limita-
tions set by our own senses and experiences. We must turn to a source that lies
outside of man. That source we find in God's revelation; that is, in the inspired
Word of God. Who but the Spirit of God really understands our minds, and who
but God knows our hearts? And as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Prov. 23:7,
KJV. It is as the psalmist says, "In thy light shall we see light." Ps. 36:9.
This quarter's study centers on the Biblical view of man. This is not a mere
theoretical discussion on "dry doctrines"; it is an issue of practical concern.
The Biblical message on man is the only solution to modern man's confusion,
restlessness, and bewilderment. It is like a cup of water to a person dying from
thirst in a desert. It is the only medicine that can heal man from his present
illness, the only cure to restore him from his brokenness. May the insights
gained during this quarter of Bible study inspire us to go out into the world to
announce the good news to all men. May this study also hasten the day when
we shall all be renewed after the image of Christ (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10) and
reflect His character in our lives and thoughts, so that our Lord can come and
our destiny can be fulfilled.
5
1-AQt--2-75